How to keep a client has become the holy grail for asset management leaders over the last 12 months, as institutional investors have scrutinised managers’ often disappointing investment performance.

One answer has been sitting at chief executives’ feet: a good client service team. Possessing one can prolong the life of an investment management mandate by up to two years, according to Juliet Bullick, head of UK institutional account management at BlackRock.

The client service teams shortlisted for the Financial News awards for excellence in institutional client service, the winners of which will be announced in London next month, managed to exceed their clients’ requirements over a difficult period.

Paul Craven, head of institutional business for UK, Ireland, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said: “A two-way dialogue is essential to maintaining a good relationship with clients in the good and bad times.

“Every client is different and so is their benchmark – the key to good service is a partnership, the dialogue between the two parties should never stop.”

The story was the same elsewhere on the short list. Bill Benz, head of Pimco Europe’s client servicing group, said: “Recently, clients have been interested in what was actually a going concern in their portfolio and the prospects for markets. They wanted to know about the journey they were on and more importantly the destination where they would end up.”

Asset management clients are usually pension scheme trustees who have their own careers to contend with and are not plugged into the City machine that churns out information on where to invest and avoid. They therefore rely on client service teams to fill in the blanks left by the mainstream media and investment consultants.

Andrew Welch, head of institutional business at Insight Investment, which was bought by BNY Mellon last year, said: “Clients never complain about being given too much information. Over the past year our clients have been asking about the wider market environment – the volatility, uncertainty and fear that have been inherent in the conditions we have been going through.

“They also were concerned about what our move to BNY Mellon meant for them – we recognised it was right to be open with them from the start and keep in regular contact, even if we had nothing material to tell them each time.”

BlackRock underwent a similar move by bringing BarclaysGlobal Investors into its ranks and absorbing its client roster. The enlarged asset manager’s client service team has grown as a result of the merger, but greater demand for contact has meant its members have not had much rest.

Bullick said: “We have always strived to know what our clients needed and to become a trusted partner with them, but recently clients have demanded a quicker response time to any questions they ask us due to the unusual investment circumstances over the past two to three years.”

BlackRock, GSAM and Pimco launched a series of informal conferences and briefings around the UK and Europe to inform their clients about investment themes, and how to avoid things going wrong.

Craven said the GSAM events had been launched as small get-togethers, but such was the thirst for knowledge from investors they soon became oversubscribed and the company expanded the series around Europe and hired larger venues.

But education and information is not enough. Ian Mackenzie, head of European relationship management at MFS, said: “There are three basic elements to good client service: performance, openness and responsiveness. You have to be open about what you have done wrong, as well as what you have done right, and as long as they know what to expect they should not be disappointed.”

A reputation for candour helped MFS’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, Annie Healy, take the accolade as client service personality of the year at the Financial News Client Service awards last year.

Keeping on top of expectations with an increased number of calls and questions about market movements is no mean feat, so some teams have expanded to cope with the increased workload.

GSAM, MFS and Insight have expanded their client service teams, but others have just worked longer hours and torn up the travel budget.

Benz at Pimco said: “We are working for our clients, that is why we are here.

“There is no cost/benefit analysis to the roadshows we put on or the visits we make, but you hope that the work you put in during the good times pays off in the bad as they understand your processes and are therefore more patient.”

This increased level of contact does not seem likely to let up as defined-benefit portfolios are set to become more complex, companies are shifting to defined contribution schemes and corporate sponsors have become more concerned with pension pots sitting on balance sheets.

Craven said: “We are responsible for coming up with the appropriate ideas for clients; our job has become more solutions oriented, but we still have to stick to the principles of communication, partnership and realising that each client is different.”

• The Financial News awards for excellence in client service will take place on June 9 at the Plaisterers Hall, London at 7pm. For more information see www.efinancialnews.com/awards